Pants rack



A ril 28, 1970 R. w. LESSARD PANTS RACK Filed Dec. 27. 1967 FIG..2

INVENTOR. ROY W. LESSARD ATTORNEY United States Patent O US. Cl. 211-89 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A pants rack having a longitudinal base member with longitudinal pants holding members secured to each side of the base member by pivotal connections at one end of the holding members allowing pairs of pants to be inserted through the openings between the other ends of each of the holding members allowing pairs of pants to 'be inserted through the openings between the other ends of the holding members and the base member, which pants are rested on the holding members thereby rotating the side of the holding member in pivotal movement toward the side of the base member gripping the pants therebetween.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION There are known pants supporting devices, such as the well known clothes hanger or the pants supporting device having a pair of spring biased members that grip the pants just above the cuffs of the pants to support the pants in a vertical inverted position. It is well known to those who have used the known pants supporting devices and clothes hangers, that these devices have many disadvantages. Pants tend to slip off the horizontal member of a clothes hanger. Further the horizontal member is connected at each end and unless there is adequate width dimensions, the side member causes folds in the edges of the pants. Also it is diflicult to correctly align the creases in the pants and then position the pants with the creases aligned on the horizontal bar of the clothes hanger. The other known pants supporting devices, such as the devices using the spring biased members, have the disadvantage of allowing the pants to slide therethrough forcing the cuffs against the support. This creases folds into the culls in an undesirable manner. Still further, many pants today are made without cuffs and are thus difficult to support on the known pants supporting devices.

Thus it is advantageous to have a new pants rack that supports pants in the manner that the pants are not creased by the supporting means, that is easy and simple to construct and operate, that can be permanently installed easily and inexpensively in fixed positions, that securely holds the pants whether they have cufis or not in a supported position, and on which pants rack it is easy to place the pants with the creases aligned.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The embodiment of this invention comprises a base member having a longitudinal and substantially rectangular shape. Longitudinal pants holding members, also having substantially rectangular shapes, are pivotally supported at one of their ends to opposite sides of the base member in the manner that the holding members extends longitudinally along the sides. The pivotal members may comprise hinges that secure the upper surfaces of the holding members to the sides of the base members allowing the holding members to be pivoted in a circular upward direction. In this upward position, pants are slipped over the open end and are rested on the upper surface of the holding member. Since each holding member has a width that is greater than its thickness, the weight of the pants draped over the extending side ice of the holding member causes the holding member to rotate downwardly gripping a portion of the pants between the holding member and the base member.

Each base member can have at least one holding membeer on each side for supporting a pair of pants. The base member may be supported by well known wire hanger at a point substantially corresponding to its center of gravity so that the structure hangs in a substantially horizontal position. Further the base member may be fixed in an abutting connection to a plate member that supports a plurality of the pants racks in a fixed position against a wall or other suitable support. Thus the pants rack of this invention may be supported in the normal manner of clothes hangers on rods or the like, or it may be supported in multiple assemblies as a permanent installation on walls or other suitable supports where, as for example in motels, and hotels, it is not easily removed.

Thus it is an object of this invention to provide a new and improved pants rack.

It is another object of this invention to provide a new and improved pants rack that will support pants of any style.

It is another object of this invention to provide a new and improved pants rack that may be supported in a fixed installation from which it is difficult to remove.

It is another object of this invention to provide a new and improved pants rack that is simple in operation, is inexpensive to construct, is durable in construction, and that does not require springs or other resilient members for its operation.

It is another object of this invention to provide a new and improved pants rack that does not crease the pants when they are supported thereon, and on which it is easy to install the pants while holding the alignment of the creases.

It is another object of this invention to provide a new and improved pants rack that Will not allow the pants to slip off the pants rack.

Other objects and many intended advantages of this invention will become more apparent upon reading the following detailed description and examining the drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of embodiments of the invention secured to a support member.

FIGURE 2 is an end view of an embodiment of the invention that is supported by a hook member.

FIGURE 3 is a cross-sectional view of the invention with the pants supporting members rotated to the position for receiving the pants.

Referring now to FIGURES 2 and 3, a center support member 10 has a substantially rectangular shape with smooth edges such as illustrated by member 30 in FIG- URE 1. The support member 10 has a pair of smooth fiat side surfaces 33 and 37 with hinge members 14 and 18 secured to each side in any known manner, such as by screws, glue, cement or the like. A pair of longitudinal pants supporting members 12 and 16, that also have a generally rectangular cross-section and a length as illustrated in FIGURE 1 by members 32 and 36, are pivotally supported at one end by the hinge members 14 and 18. Referring to the pants holding member 12, the pants holding member 12 has an upper surface 39 and a side surface 24 and is secured at only one end by the hinge member 14 with the remaining space between the side 24 of pants holding member 12 and the side 37 of base member 10 being open. Accordingly in operation, the pants holding member 12 is rotated in a counter clockwise direction and the pants 28 are slideably inserted into the space 20 between the pants holding member 12 ad the base member 10 with a portion of the pants 28 resting on the upper surface 37 of the holding member 12 and draping downwardly. The weight of the draped pants rotates the pants holding member 12 in a clockwise direction until its side surface 24 is caused to press against the side of the base member 10, gripping the pants 28 therebetween. This gripping force is sufficient to hold the pants from sliding off the pants holding member 12.

The edge of the pants holding member, that is the intersection between the side surface 24 and the upper surface, is curved at 26 to provide a smooth surface for supporting the pants 28. The outer edge surface of the pants holding member 12 is also curved for the same reason. The side 24 has sufficient thickness to merely squeeze the pants therebetween and does not have any pointed edge that digs into and creases the pants.

It should be understood that pants holding member 16 supports pants 30 having cuffs 25 in the manner previously described relative to the pants holding member 12. The base member has a wire hook member 22 secured therein any known manner for supporting the pants rack on a rod or the like in the known manner. The wire member 22 is secured at a point substantially aligned with the center of gravity of the composite structure of the base member 10 and the two pants holding members 12 and 16 supporting the structure in a horizontal position.

Referring to FIGURE 3, it may be seen that the hinge members 14 and 18 when pivoting the holding members 12 and 16 maintain a space 20 therebetween that is sufiicient to receive varying thicknesses of pants to be supported thereon.

Referring now to FIGURE 1, a similar pants rack construction as previously described has a longitudinal base member 30 with a pair of pants holding members 32 and 36 supported thereon. The pants 28 are thus sup-ported on the rack member illustrated in FIGURE 1 in the manner previously described. In this embodiment, the end of the base members 30 are fixed in an abutting position to a fiat support member 40 that in turn may be secured to a wall or other support by screws passed through holes 42.

While the base members 10 and 30 and the pants holding members 12, 16, 32 and 36 are normally made of wood, it should be recognized that these members can be made of any other suitable material, such as plastic or the like.

While many features and applications of my invention have been disclosed in the specific embodiments, it should be recognized that other possible configurations, uses and adaptations of my invention are possible by those skilled in the art.

Having disclosed my invention, I now claim:

1. A pants rack comprising:

a longitudinal base member having side surfaces,

a longitudinal pants-holding member having an upper surface and a side surface, with said side surface being positioned along one of said side surfaces of said base member,

support means interconnecting said base member on said one side surface and said holding member at one end thereof with the space between said members being open at the other end of said pants-holding member for pivoting said holding member relative to said support means, whereby pants are passed through said open space and rested on said upper surface of said holding member forcing said side surface of said holding member toward said side of said base member and gripping the pants therebetween,

and said support means is secured to said holding member at the edge of said upper surface and said side surface.

2. A pants rack as defined in claim 1 in which:

a hanger support is secured to said base member at a point in substantial alignment with the center of gravity of said rack.

3. A pants rack as defined in claim 1 in which:

said support means comprises a hinge member with one part of said hinge member secured to said one of said side surfaces of said base member and the other part of said hinge member being secured to said upper surface of said holding member.

4. A pants rack as defined in claim 3 in which:

said holding member comprises a rectangular shaped elongated member with the edge of said upper surface and said side surface being curved.

5. A pants rack as defined in claim 4 in which:

the width of said upper surface is greater than the width of. said side surface of said holding member.

6. A pants rack as defined in claim 5 in which:

in the gripping position said upper surface is normal to said side surface of said base member.

7. A pants rack as defined in claim 6 in which:

said base member has a rectangular shape with a second holding member p-ivotally secured solely at one end to the other side of said base member.

8. A pants rack as defined in claim 7 in which:

one end of said base member is fixed to a supporting member in abutting relationship,

and said supporting member is capable of being secured to a second supporting member.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,825,165 9/1931 Smith et al. 24248 2,622,742 12/1952 Oldham 211-113 3,361,267 1/1968 Burkholder 211-89 ROY D. FRAZIER, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.*R. 223-96 

